It’s been a couple of years since we heard that a fourth Expendables movie was officially in the works… this despite the fact that the third movie was at one time being framed as their final mission. Back in December, Stallone gave an update on Facebook that he was starting to prepare for the next movie and that they had some great ideas to potentially deliver something different. Well, now this week we are hearing that “something different” may actually mean that the Expendables crew will be continuing on without their fearless leader. Word on the street is that Stallone has decided to walk away from The Expendables 4 and will no longer be involved, whether he’s in front of the camera or behind it. Can the series continue without Barney Ross? Hit the jump to find out what we know.

According to Deadline, Sylvester Stallone has decided to withdraw from The Expendables 4 despite a whopping upfront paycheck of $20+ million. His departure is said to be over creative differences with Nu Image / Millennium head honcho Avi Lerner, who could not agree on a director, script or VFX studio for the movie (among other things). Although the two have butted heads many times in the past, sources say that this is not like previous arguments. On the other hand, Lerner claims that they have already agreed on 95% of the decisions that need to be made and the movie is not yet dead.

It is certainly possible that this is just a negotiation tactic and Stallone himself has remained silent on the issue, which seems to indicate that he has not made a final decision. However,
Stallone is coming off of an Oscar nomination for his performance in Creed and may be feeling pressure to maintain a certain level of quality, especially since he has other projects he could be pursuing instead. It is unclear if the movie would still happen without him, but several of the cast members have stated that they would only return if Stallone did. Would you watch The Expendables 4 without Sylvester Stallone? Should Stallone reconsider or would you rather see him focus on something else anyway?

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Todd S. Gallows

At this rate, what’s the point? Part 3 was already a miss financially, and wasn’t helped by the fact that it was PG-13 and put the focus on the young MMA fighters instead of the vets. The series never quite lived up to its big cast of geriatric action heroes, but now it seems to be getting further and further away from its core premise.